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How to Make Sun Prints

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sun prints

You will need:

  • sheets of sun sensitive paper
  • clear plastic or sheet of glass from a photo frame
  • bowl of water

I bought sun sensitive paper for my girls as a gift, but today was our first trial. We set out to find objects to place on the paper.  Our first attempt used loose parts.

loose parts on sun sensitive paper1. Create  your designs inside, away from sunlight and put the paper on cardboard or a tray to help carry it outside.

sun sensitive paper

2. Cover the picture with glass to stop it blowing away and keep it flat and place in the sun for 3-5 minutes. The paper will turn white.

sun prints with sun senstive paper

3. Remove the glass and the objects. Place the paper in a bowl of water for 1 minute, to stop the chemical reaction.

4. Remove the pictures and leave to dry.

As you can see, one of the pictures came out clearly, whereas the other had only faint prints.  The girls discussed why this might be.

Why did mine work better?  I thought mine was in the sun longer but the other one was definitely in the sun for longer, so I don’t know.

It wasn’t because my things were heavier because I used sequins too. Maybe it wasn’t pressed on as hard?

leaves collected for sun prints

I suggested they try another, to see if they could work it out. This time we searched the garden for natural materials.  Usually, I only let the girls use natural things from the ground, but this time I gave them permission to pick flowers and leaves.  They searched the flower bed and found things they hadn’t seen before,  climbed the tree to reach leaves and lichen and we found that even weeds could have interesting shapes.

They chose their favourites to make a design.

making sun prints

And left them in the sun to develop

sun prints

This batch was both successful.

Sun prints

I love the detail of the smaller leaf. The girls reflected on the success of these pictures.

I think it worked better this time because we laid the leaves really flat before we started, or perhaps it is because we left it in the water for longer? But I don’t think that would make a difference.

sun prints

Even the little sequins came out this time.

We saved a few sheets for their big sister to try, it will be interesting to see what she will create. I also ordered bigger sheets because some of the bigger leaves didn’t fit on the 5×7 paper.